Nikola Tesla was the father of the electric age. Despite having drop-kicked humanity into a second industrial revolution, up until recently he’s been an unsung hero in history books. If you don’t know who Tesla is, go read this (NSFW).

Suffice it to say, Tesla pioneered Alternating Current, Radio communication, RADAR, Transistors, Hydroelectric power, and myirad other crazy, mad-science sorts of projects. Tesla was the Uber-Geek of the turn of the last century and he has been forgotten. A brilliant scientist and a prolific inventor, his legacy died with him after a rather nasty spat with Thomas Edison over Alternating Current tarred his name in this country. (Edison employed Tesla, failed to pay him for his work, and pilfered a number of Tesla’s original Patents… but that is a different subject).

Tesla built a laboratory in Shoreham, New York called Wardenclyffe where we was going to try and perfect the projects he developed in Colorado Springs, Colorado. But due to meddling by Edison and other financial problems, the project fell through. The giant tower was dismantled, but the main buildings still stand, to this day.

The Tesla Science Center of Shoreham, New York has put an offer on the property. If they succeeed in buying it, they will turn the place into a museum dedicated to the works of Nikolai Tesla: The first in the world. It will be placed on the New York register of Historic Places, and it won’t turn into another strip mall. But only if the Tesla Science Center comes up with 1.6 Million Dollars by September.

But you can help. The State of New York has pledged a matching grant if the center can raise $850,000. They started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds, and raised half of the required funds in less than a day.

(At the time of publication, the perks were all sold out below the $1000 level, but an email has been sent to backers indicating that more perks are on the way).